Filling-machine-valve cleaner.



PATENTED OCT. 16, 1906.- I. G. H. ST RAS BURGER. FILLING MACHINE VALVE CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED IOV.13. 1906.

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v UNITED STATES IPALIEN'I OFFICE.

FRANK C. H. STRASBURGER. OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO BOTTLERS MACHINERY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

FlLLlNG-MACHlNE-V'ALVE CLEANER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906 Application filed November 13, 1905. Serial No. 287,016.

To aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be-it known that I, FRANK C. H. STRAs- BURGER, a citizen of the United States, re.- siding at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Filling-Machine-Valve Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

The obj ect' of this invention is to'provide a simple and effective means for cleaning the valves of a filling-machine without removing them from the machine, whereby they can be constantly and easily maintained in operative and sanitary condition.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the invention applied to the fillingmachine covered by Letters Patent No. 788,681, dated May 2, 1905; but it will be understood that the invention can be applied to machines of other construction and used with equally satisfactory results.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view showing the invention with as much of the general structure of the filling-machine as is necessary to understand the application and operation. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sec-' tional view of the filling-valve mechanism. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the cleaner on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring-to the drawings, designates a liquid tank or receptacle to which the fillingvalve mechanism is connected, and 12 is a bottle-rest which is carried by a vertically movable stem 13. The bottle is raised to operate the valve by a lever 15, connected by links 16 to a cross-head 11, fast on the stem 13. This lever can be operated by any suitable means.

The filling-valve mechanism comprises a body 17, which has a central bore 17 into the lower end of which the filling-tube 18 is secured. Rods 19 carry the liquid-valve 20,

and a head 21, slidable on the filling-tube, is provided with openings 19 to receive these rods. Springs 22 on the rods and springs 22 on the filling-tube normally hold the liquidvalve against its seat at the upper end of the bore 17 The head 21 is provided with an enlarged bore 23, which communicates by a passage 23 with a valve-chamber 24, and an air-tube 25 projects into this chamber and carries a check-valve 26, which will open to permit air to flow into the bottle, but will not permit air to flow from the bottle into: the tube. An opening 27 in the air-tube is pro-. vided to permit the fiow of air from the bottle through the tube into the tank, and the flow of air is regulated by the set-screw 28. The upper end of the airtube projects through the body 17 and carries a valve 29 in the housing 30 within the tank, a tube 31 being connected to the housing and extending above the level of the liquid in the tank. A guide 32 is slidably. arranged on the fillingtube to center the bottle automatically, so that the tube will enter the bottle without encountering the edge of its mouth. This guide is flared or bell-shaped at its lower end and provided interiorly with a rubber seat 35, against which the mouth of the bottle is pressed. The upper end of the guide is reduced in size to enter asocket 36 in the lower end of the head 21, and the guide is provided with a bore 37 to receive the filling-tube and also with one or more passages 39 to permit air to pass from the bottle into the chamber formed by the bore 23 of the head. The

head is prevented from slipping off of the mounted at one end on a base 41 and pro-- vided with lateral branches 42 43 having cocks 42 43. A handle 44 is fastened on the tube.

In operating the filling-machine a bottle is placed on the bottle-rest, and the latter is moved upward to carry the bottle against the bell-guide, which centers the bottle relative to the filling-tube and finally engages the head and first opens the air-valve 29 and then the liquid-valve 20, thereby permitting an equalization of pressure in the bottle and tank before the liquid begins to flow into the tank and controls the outflow of air from the bottle to the tank as the bottle is filled.

In using the cleaner for cleaning the valve mechanism a water-hose 42 is attached to one pipe 42 and a steam-hose 43 is attached to wash out the valves and passages.

to the other pipe 43, both of the cooks being shut off. The cleaner is then placed upon the bottle-rest and the mechanism is operated, as before described, to carry the cleaner up, the filling-tube entering the cleaner-tube until the air-valve 29 is opened by reason of the engagement of the cleaner-tube with the bell-guide and of the bell-guide with the slidable head 21. In the particular con- ,struction herein shown and described the upward movement of the cleaner should stop when the head 21 engages the nuts 19 on the rods 19, for at that time the air-valve will be opened, while the liquid-valve will not be opened until the head rises farther. The steam-cock is first turned on for a minute or two to permit steam to flow up through the tube and passages 39, 23, and 23 and through the opening 27 into the tube 25 through the air-valve into the tank. Then the steam is shut off and the water turned on This operation may be repeated, if desired, to insure a thorough cleaning. During the cleaning operation the cover (not shown) of the tank should preferably be removed to leave the tank open. After the air-valve and airpassages have beencleaned the cleaner can be moved upward sufficiently to open the liquid-valve, and the steam and water can then be turned on, as before, to clean the liquid-valve.

All of the filling-valves of the machine should be cleaned at regular intervals in the manner heretofore described, and with my improved cleaner the operation can be easily performed, especially on the modern rotary filling-machines, by simply removing the cleaner from one bottle-rest to the neXt. It will be observed also that the cleaner is carried to operative position in precisely the same manner as the bottle is carried to filling position, and that to all intents and purposes the cleaner takes the place of the bottle in operating the filling mechanism. A block 45 can be placed between the cross-head 11 and the bearing 46 of the stem 13 during the cleaning operation to hold the parts in fixed position.

While the bell-guide is a desirable feature of the filling-machine, it is not necessary in any way to the use of my cleaner, and the latter can be used in the same manner and with the same satisfactory results in connection with the filling-machines of Patents No. 768,962 and No. 768,963, dated August 30, 1904, and others.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A filling-machine-valve cleaner comprising a base adapted to fit on the bottle-rest of the filling-machine, a tube mounted endwise on said base and adapted to rise on the fillingtube and engage the head of the filling-valve mechanism of said machine, two independent lateral branches communicating with said tube at its lower end, and a cock in each branch.

FRANK C. H. STRASBURGER. Witnesses:

WM. 0. BELT, M. A. KIDDIE. 

